Florida Zika case count reaches 50

With the addition of new confirmed, imported Zika virus cases in Miami-Dade County and Broward County, Florida health officials now put the case count at 50.

Image/CDC

Nearly half the cases have been reported in Miami-Dade (24), while Broward (7), Hillsborough (3) and Lee (3) follow. Four cases have been reported in pregnant women in undisclosed counties.

All cases are travel-associated. There have been no locally-acquired cases of Zika in Florida, or elsewhere in the US.

Last week, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Centers for Disease Control fulfilled the request he made last week for more antibody tests for the Zika virus and provided an additional 500 tests.

Florida currently has the capacity to test 4,552 people for active Zika virus and 1,505 for Zika antibodies.

Zika virus disease (Zika) is a disease caused by Zika virus that is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected. Once a person has been infected, he or she is likely to be protected from future infections.